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Robert Dudley Appearances Talk
Robert Dudley
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Sir Robert Dudley was a UNIT Sergeant stationed at a former UNIT Black Site. He was part of a team that monitored the Time Fracture in 2020. The first to enter the Fracture willingly, he was flung back through time, ending up spending a long time in the Elizabethan era.

Biography[]

On 17 August, Dudley made a field log in which he voiced serious concerns for the safety of the human race. (WC: 14681 UNIT Field Log)

On 18 August, Dudley stood by the Time Fracture as Dr. Errol Courtney updated the field log after a spike in Chronon and Arrton readings came from the Time Fracture. When the reading started increasing again, Dudley bemusedly watched Courtney argue with Dr. Evelyn Yates until the Time Fracture spiked out energy. Dudley then decide to enter the Time Fracture to personally investigate the energy readings. (WC: 14682 UNIT Field Log)

On 19 August, he attempted to enter the Time Fracture, but was dragged in with a burst of light, along with his tether. Yates and Courtney lost contact with him, and Courtney ordered that the recording be halted. (WC: 14683 UNIT Field Log) They remained unable to contact him the following day (WC: 14684 UNIT Field Log) or indeed at any point following, leading to the development of a safer means for humans to travel through the Fracture. (PROSE: Welcome to Operation Time Fracture)

Dudley here.

Dudley adopted a period-appropriate outfit while stranded in the Elizabethan era. (WC: Dudley here.)

However, Dudley had survived. He first ended up on the planet Khan where the locals nursed him back to health, before stepping back through the Time Fracture. He ended up in Elizabethan England, where he quickly attempted to send a transmission through time back to UNIT to update them on his situation. At the end of this transmission, words appeared in blue reading "How many seconds are there in eternity?" (WC: This is Sergeant Robert Dudley.) By the time he made a second transmission, he was living openly at the court, having met Queen Elizabeth I herself and even been knighted by her. However, he suspected that the Queen was keeping a secret related to the Fracture. As in his previous transmission, it ended with some blue words appearing, this time reading "Heavy is the head that wears the crown". (WC: Dudley here.)

5 years later, he reported to 'UNIT Black Site', though he was unsure if it still existed. He reported that 'there [was] an agent. Jumping through the Time Fracture, collecting various parts.' He also stated that he wasn't sure what they were doing, or what they were building, but that they were 'asking very specific people and going to very specific places.' He didn't know who the agent was working for. After this, he noticed that the Doctor's TARDIS had appeared on the tapestry in front of him, and was overjoyed at the thought of the Doctor coming to rescue him. At the end of this transmission, as with his prior 2 transmissions a message appeared in blue, this time reading "Your name is on the list", (WC: Is anyone receiving these transmissions?) words which had previously been spoken by Kate Stewart when addressing those who appeared on a list created by the Doctor, which featured people who were needed to save the universe. (WC: 14684 UNIT Field Log)

Behind the scenes[]

Robert Dudley illustration

A portrait of Robert Dudley. (STAGE: Time Fracture)

  • On this wiki stage plays are generally not valid sources, due to variations between performances making it difficult to document; therefore Dudley's involvement in Doctor Who: Time Fracture cannot be covered in his biography. During the play, after five years trapped in the past, a rescue team from 2021 came for Dudley, but he was shot and killed by Zoria while trying to stop her stealing a piece of the Time Distributor.
  • In the real world, there did exist a Robert Dudley who was closely associated with Elizabeth I, and while the Robert Dudley in Time Fracture seemed to have been based upon him, their biographies and ethnicities are rather irreconcilable.
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